Bunk area

Mainly cloudy, 4°, breezy NNW.

A bit chilly and pretty quiet along the Bunk area today:

12 Shoveler, 2 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, c50 Canada Geese on the viewable area of the gravel pit.

50+ Fieldfare, 30+ Redwing, a Goldcrest, Treecreeper and Chiffchaff with a large Tit flock, 2 Jay and a Grey Heron and 3 species of Gull.

I’ve seen more Goldcrest in the last 4 weeks locally than I usually see in a year or more!

A Raven and 2 Egyptian Geese yesterday. Per MA.

Redshanks

Sunny spells, 4°, light NE.

Lollingdon was a bit of a washout today. Probably due to someone parked up in a pickup in the middle of the south side of the hill sporting a high-powered air rifle.

Taking the odd shot at a target he had place approx. 20m in front of the vehicle.

Subsequently there was not a single bird on the hill!

Nearby, plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing and an increased number of Blackbird.

A single Grey Wagtail and Sparrowhawk noted.

Alan along the Bunk line/Cholsey Hill area: Golden Plover heard calling but not seen, Chiffchaff and Reed Bunting.

Also a Redshank in the area on floods with 2 Common Snipe and 2 more Redshank nearby.

Redshank courtesy Alan ↕

Grey Wagtail

Sunshine & Rain

Rain then sun then rain again, 14°, light SSW.

A rather uneventful walk out to Lollingdon and back. The hill was quiet other than 250+ Starling chattering away on some nearby telegraph wires and the calls of 12 Red Kite and 3 Buzzard soaring over the hill.

Have been hearing a lot of Siskin moving through lately and today was no exception with at least 3 small flocks passing overhead.

Just 5 Fieldfare noted plus, 52 Redwing, 10 Yellowhammer, 1 Chiffchaff, 12 Meadow Pipit, 6 Pied Wagtail, 2 Jay and a single Raven etc.

River, per Alan: Cetti’s Warbler, Blackcap, 2 Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff, Grey Wagtail and Water Rail.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter.

Butterflies: 1 Small White and 7 Red Admiral.

Goldcrest courtesy Alan

Nuthatch

Blackbird

Chiffchaffs

Sunshine, 10°, light SSE.

Appears to have been a small influx of Chiffchaff, with 1 heard singing at the end of Papist Way, 1 Cholsey Marsh, 2 along the Bunk line, 2 near the Gravel Pit and 2, Bullshole/Millennium Wood.

Alan covered the River and Bunk line today and I went out to Lollingdon.

Kingfisher, Reed Bunting, Water Rail and Chiffchaff along the river.

Little Owl and 2 Chiffchaff along Bunk line and 2 more near the Gravel pit and the Green Sandpiper still present.

Little Owl and Little Egret out at Lollingdon (the Egret seen earlier on Amwell Spring).

A couple of Song Thrush in song on Lollingdon Hill and a flock of 100+ Starling, Fieldfare and Redwing on the wooded side.

More “Winter Thrushes” scattered elsewhere, excess of 250 birds.

2 Chiffchaff Millennium Wood and 2 Mistle Thrush on football field.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: Female Orange Tip in garden.

Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff ↕ courtesy Alan

Sound recording of a

Song Thrush, Lollingdon Hill 8th Mar 2022

No surprises

Fairly sunny but chilly, 7°, light E.

In Wallingford early this morning and walked back via the River/Winterbrook and Bunk line.

A Cormorant drying itself on a dead tree on the opposite bank but very little else on the river.

A quick check of the gravel pit revealed just 2 Little Grebe.

Further on 2 Chiffchaff, Kestrel and good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing and c20 Yellowhammer, a few Meadow Pipit and several Skylark.

Alan out along the river with Water Rail and a flyover of c50 Golden Plover.

Later checking out the gravel pit with the Little Grebe still present and the Green Sandpiper again.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

I didn’t have my usual lens with me so had to make do with what I had.

Cormorant

Green Sandpiper ↕ courtesy Alan

Dunnock

Roe Deer

Chiffchaff

Yellowhammer

Ducks and stuff

Cloudy, 7°, light NNW.

Both out at different times along the Bunk line area.

The Gravel pit had 3 Tufted Duck, 2 Shovelor Duck, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Mallard and a Green Sandpiper, 2 Herring Gull, a handful of Black-headed Gull and Lesser Blackback Gull.

Worth keeping an eye on this area over the next few months for migrating Waders and Terns etc.

Elsewhere along the Bunk, a Chiffchaff, Little Owl, a Kestrel, 2 more Herring Gull plus good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing.

Distantly a field on Cholsey hill was being ploughed and had in excess of 500 birds present incl Lesser Blackback Gull, Black-headed Gull, Rook and Jackdaw and the odd Red Kite patrolling.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Tufted Duck (photos from previous encounters)  

The Thames and The Bunk

Cloudy at first the sun breaking thru, 7°, light WSW.

Alan along the river today: 3 Stonechat, Little Grebe, Peregrine, Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, Nuthatch, Grey Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipit, Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush in song and a couple of pairs of Buzzard thermalling.

I was out along the Bunk line area with 2 (m) Bullfinch, a few Yellowhammer and good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing feeding in fields.

A cover crop had a good finch flock present with c100 Linnet, 50’ish Chaffinch, 1 pos 2 Brambling, several Redpoll, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Reed Bunting.

Also several Pied Wagtail, 3 Mistle Thrush, a Grey Heron, a Herring Gull and 200+ Black-headed Gull.

Bullfinch

The Spider hunter, a Wren scouring the undergrowth

Buzzard courtesy Alan

Grey Heron

Moorhens in the garden

More of the Pallas's

Sunny, 7°, light SSW.

Alan made another trip to Abingdon for the Pallas's Warbler today.

A Chiffchaff in the garden. And 2 more Blackcap wintering in a Cross roads garden. Per Bob Dryden and a Mink seen on one of the islands near the 4-Arches.Per Stephen Haigh.

Stonechats & Finches

Foggy at first then sunny, 6°, light NNW.

The 2 Stonechat still wintering out at Lollingdon in separate locations. Plus a small number of Fieldfare and Redwing present on Lollingdon hill.

The Little Owl seen nearby taking in some early morning sunshine.

Several Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit feeding in a flooded field.

Back closer to the village were a small flock of Redpoll in the treetops, a couple of Jay, 2 Mistle Thrush, and a Song Thrush in song and a Goldcrest with a Tit flock.

Alan along the river: Goldcrest, Nuthatch,c9 Siskin and another 20+ later, Water Rail, Chiffchaff, a Raven overhead, both Mistle Thrush and Song Thrush in song, Reed Bunting and Grey Wagtail plus the usual “Winter Thrushes”.

2 male Brambling and a Redpoll on feeders in a West End garden. Per Richard James.

And Nearby Tony Williams has been getting 3 Blackcap (1m & 2f) in his garden.

Stonechat

Siskin courtesy Alan

Brambling courtesy Richard James

Redpoll courtesy Richard James

Siskin courtesy Alan

Stonechat ↕

Last day of 2021 & a Butterfly

Rain at first then sunny, 15°, light SW.

Some balmy temperature for the end of the year and a butterfly seen on the wing.

Lollingdon hill was very quiet today, just a few Red Kite and Buzzard overhead and a single Raven flew north east.

A single Stonechat still nearby and 50+ Pied Wagtail and a similar number of Meadow Pipit frequenting a flooded field.

Also a Chiffchaff, several Jay and Yellowhammer, Mistle Thrush (in song), a few Fieldfare and Redwing and a Sparrowhawk.

Alan out along the river: Cetti’s Warbler, Water Rail, 2 Stonechat, Kingfisher, Meadow Pipit, Yellowhammer, Treecreeper, Fieldfare, Redwing, Mistle Thrush (in song), Song Thrush (in song), Reed Bunting, Barn Owl, Little Grebe and 12+ Siskin.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Butterflies: a single Brimstone on the wing.

A Brimstone on New Years Eve

Treecreeper courtesy Alan

Stonechat

Goldfinch

Stonechat

Pied Wagtail

The Bunk & The Thames

Cloudy with the occasional sunny spell, 12°, light SW.

Bunk line relatively quiet today as far as diversity goes. Around 500 gulls present between CSW and the Gravel pit. Mainly Lesser Blackback Gull, with 100+ Black-headed Gull, at least 2 Great Blackback Gull and 2 Herring Gull.

Loads of Fieldfare present but not so many Redwing. The usual Yellowhammer present (12+), 2 Grey Heron, a Kingfisher and a Chiffchaff.

At one point I heard a wader call that sounded very much like a Grey Plover but was unable to locate the bird.

Alan on his usual route along the river with Siskin, Stonechat, Treecreeper, Reed Bunting, singing Mistle Thrush, Chiffchaff, Water Rail, Kingfisher and the usual “Winter Thrushes” and Meadow Pipit.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Yellowhammer

Kingfisher courtesy Alan

Siskin ↕ courtesy Alan: note, the one above is ringed

2 Grey Heron ↕

Some of the many Gulls present

Roe Deer

A Wet One

Cloudy with rain showers, 7°, light WNW.

A bit of a non-event today, loads of Thrushes feeding in fields along the Bunk line with probably the wet conditions forcing invertebrates to the surface and a few hundred Black-headed Gull loafing in the fields along with a couple of Herring Gull. The only bird of note was a wintering Chiffchaff on the marsh seen by Alan.